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Uber is reportedly set to price its IPO at the midpoint of its target or below, giving it a valuation of as much as $86 billion

Reuters

Uber is set to price its initial public offering at the midpoint of its target range or below, according to a Wednesday report from The Wall Street Journal that comes prior to the ride-hailing giant’s expected Thursday pricing and Friday stock-market debut.

If Uber’s stock were to price at the midpoint of its expected range, at $47 a share, its valuation on a fully diluted basis would be roughly $86 billion, The Wall Street Journal’s says, which cites people familiar with the matter.

Uber last month said it planned to sell 180 million shares in its public offering at a price between $44 and $50 a share, which would value the company at $80 billion to $90 billion.

These numbers are well below the initial valuation expectations floated in earlier reports. Uber had sought a valuation as high as $120 billion, sources told Reuters last month.

The lower pricing was influenced by the disappointing stock-market performance of competitor Lyft, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some investors said they were waiting for Lyft to report earnings on Tuesday before placing their orders for Uber’s IPO.

Put another way, Lyft’s rapid decline in its first month of trading was the second-worst opening-month performance of a large US-listed IPO, according to Dealogic. Only Facebook’s 21% decline in 2012 was worse than Lyft’s 20.5% drop.

Even still, Uber’s expected valuation ranks among the largest US IPOs on record.

Should Uber price at the midpoint of its range between $44 and $50 a share, it would be the third largest, trailing only Alibaba and Facebook, according to a Dealogic analysis.

The San Francisco-based company’s offering also comes at a delicate moment in the US stock market. Stocks have gotten whipped around all week by developments in the US-China trade war, though equity markets are within striking distance of their all-time highs.

Uber did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment on Wednesday afternoon.